Hi there. I'm new to this so, patience, please. I've read through loads of your info about 'burning' this, that and the other but no-one is discussing my question and I could do with some help.

I only use my Panasonic E50 for recording onto DVD so does it matter if I buy 4x or 8x blank discs? So far, all I've used is branded Ritek GO4s with a lot of luck and no coasters. They play in my other standalone machines, too. However, I've been reading in some letter forums that Ritek has gone off the boil, standard-wise so thought that I'd switch to Taiyo Yuden as everyone speaks highly of them. But, do I stick to 4x or doesn't it matter in a standalone recorder if I use 8x?

Also, how do I know that I'm getting genuine TYs if I haven't got any of the media reading software that you guys talk about? I mean, the TYs don't seem to have the brand name on the discs, especially as most seem to be white top for printing - which I also don't need. I just number the discs and keep them in the correct cases. Is the TY brand name on the shiny silver tops?

I'd really appreciate any help as I've spent hours and hours trying to find the info on the net and my stack of Ritek blanks is dwindling by the day. Thanks.

I've no idea at what speed the Panasonic E50 burns but I suppose that it must be 4x as that's what I've been using successfully. Would it matter if I used the 8x as I'm having trouble finding TYs at 4x while there seems to be plenty of 8x about?

I shall try that with my Riteks and see what they are really. Of course, the downside to that is that I'll have to fork out £100 to buy a spindle of discs to check them. Still, I suppose that if they're fakes then I can return them.

Thanks for confirming that 8x is okay in my Panny.

So, Verbatim are just as good, eh? I do have a pal who swears by them but I haven't read so much about them in the letter forums.

I think I'll try my supplier and see if they'll send me just one disc to sample.

You can use 16X media.., but with your E50 you would have enough with 1X media. If you want the best media..., Taiyo Yuden is the way. That's and Plextor are expensive media and difficult to find in Europe...., go for Verbatim Pastel Disc, they are the same media manufactured by Taiyo Yuden.

Iggy I have a Pioneer 16 X DVD, 4 X DL Dual Layer, 32 x CD-R, and 24xCD/RW external with a ADS Pyro video capture both connect to each other and to the laptop(Inspiron 8500 'new ' oit just came in the evening hours of the 15th (right before my birthday) via 1394 firewire. When I was out at our newly built now open Circuit City, I noticed they have 16 X DVD and they have DL packs of 25 for about $35.

The new Verbatim 16X media are great. Imagine that those were the first 16X released. All the other just followed. I think now, after so many 16X burning tests, it is safe to go for 16X, with your Pioneer.

I have seen those 16X in CDRinfo a long time ago, so I think they are not in a hurry.

As for the DL, first make sure which brand is this with the $35. It sounds a little strange to me, from $15 down to $1.4.

So, people, from all your replies it seems that I can use 4x, 8x, 16x or whatever in my Panasonic E50 standalone recorder and it won't make any difference. It's hard to find any 4x TY discs at all. Thanks for the info.

However, my next problem is that all the discs seem to be either white top for printing or silver top. There's no mention of branded discs. I know that you said that the ID can be checked through the computer but it would be easier to recognise them on websites if the discs had a name on the top. Does anyone know of a dealer who sells branded TY discs? SVP say that theirs are the genuine article but then so does everyone else and. let's face it, they're not going to say that they are not genuine are they? What to do, what to do?

I have an E50 as well; it burns at 1X. The only thing to consider is the firmware that reads the media codes. As Panasonic has a policy of never updating firmware you are stuck with the available media codes that were burned in when it was made. It is possible that you could try a 16X media that was never made when the firmware was written and it would fail. I have managed to find a few of these. I would stick with stuff that was around when it was new. I have tried to get media codes from Panasonic and so far they are working on it. BTW, supermedia and others have some "Value" grade 4X TY that should be just fine for 1X burns. You might get some G02s instead of the G01s but as I recall they were around when the E50 was made.

Thanks, Chas. I'll look around for some ancient compatable discs (joke). I'll check out the stuff at BTW and supermedia but what the heck's 'value' grade? Does that sound like substandard discs? Hmmm. SVP has 8x TYs but there's no name on them. If I find anywhere that has branded TYs I'll let you know.

Well Panasonic says they can't find the media codes that works with their firmware. They said, ".... theoretically any 1-8X media should work." Well, I know that is crap. I would find one that works and buy a lifetime supply. Once the 8X is gone our Panasonics will be players only.

BTW means "by the way". The TY value grade has the potential for slightly more block errors. I have a few stacks and they are great on my NEC 3500.